RESPECT slate wins six of 20 executive board seats, narrowly misses winning presidency... Seattle teacher union insurgents almost victorious in hotly contested union election
In union elections that concluded May 8, the opposition RESPECT slate came within a whisker of capturing the top position in the Seattle Education Association, with MAP test boycott leader Jesse Hagopian coming just 45 votes behind incumbent president Jonathan Knapp. RESPECT candidate Dan Troccoli will now advance to a runoff election after placing second in a three-way race for union treasurer. Further, RESPECT�which was initiated by the Social Equality Educators (SEE) caucus�captured six of the 20 executive board seats that were voted upon in this election, ensuring a strong voice for union activism and opposition to the growing attacks on teachers, their unions, and public education.
Jesse Hagopian came within 45 votes of winning the presidency of the Seattle Education Association. Photo courtesy of the Puget Sound Socialists.The election shows widespread union support for SEE's strategy for both defending the teaching profession and fighting for fully funded�and equitable�public schools. It was SEE activists who helped initiate and lead the successful boycott of the MAP test campaign of 2013, which, in partnership with parents and community allies, gave a boost to the anti-testing movement around the U.S. And when Seattle Public Schools demanded contract concessions from the Seattle Education Association a few months later, it was SEE members who called for an active contract campaign. Moreover, it was SEE activists who led the opposition to a concessionary contract that the union's Representative Assembly approved by just a one-vote margin.
SEE members saw the election as a way to further mobilize members of the Seattle Education Association to challenge the forces who want not only to weaken teacher unions, but to privatize public education through the proliferation of charter schools and reduce classroom instruction to test-prep and scripted lessons. After a vigorous campaign that featured lively debate and involvement of parent and community activists�and front-page coverage by the Seattle Times and reports in other media�more than 50 percent of Seattle teachers cast electronic ballots, a very high turnout for a union election. Full results are available on the union web site:
http://www.seattlewea.org/images/static_content/ELECTIONS/2014%20Seattle%20Education%20Association%20Officer%20Elections%20-%20RESULTS%20NOT%20CERTIFIED.pdf
This impressive showing by SEE�which is just five years old�is a sign of the growing teacher activism that has led to the emergence of new, fighting leaderships in teacher union locals in Chicago, Newark, St. Paul, Portland and Los Angeles. Now, the vote in the SEA confirms that growing numbers of teachers are rejecting the corporate education "reform" agenda. Indeed, SEE members mounted a challenge for union leadership not to capture office for its own sake, but to help build the movement for education justice. They plan to redouble that effort in the months and years ahead.
As a labor journalist who closely followed this campaign, I know firsthand that SEE members are grateful for the encouragement and support that they've received from teacher union activists, parent groups and community organizations from around the U.S. Please take a moment to tell them how much you appreciated their efforts by posting on the RESPECT Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/voterespectSEA or sending an email to: seeseattleweb@gmail.com. And you can be sure that when you need allies in a fight for social justice, SEE will be there for you, too. (Lee Sustar).
